Melomakarona are oval Greek Christmas cookies made with olive oil, citrus and warm spices, then dipped in honey syrup and topped with walnuts. These cookies remind me of the holiday season, growing up in a Greek family. They’re crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside, with a honey-syrup finish that makes them such a lovely addition to a Christmas cookie platter.
Why You’ll Love Melomakarona
- That texture: What I love about these cookies is the crunchy outside and soft inside, especially once they’ve been dipped in honey syrup. The finely ground walnuts add another layer of texture to each bite.
- Citrus and warm spices: Orange and lemon zest go into the dough with cinnamon and nutmeg, while orange peel and cinnamon sticks flavor the syrup. There’s plenty going on beyond the sweetness.
- A Greek Christmas favorite: Melomakarona belong on a holiday cookie platter. Serve them with coffee, share them after Christmas dinner, or add them to a table of Greek sweets.
Ingredients
All-purpose flour: This melomakarona recipe uses all-purpose flour without semolina. Use the flour quantity in the recipe card; you don’t need to add semolina to make this version.
Maria Koutsogiannia
Maria is the creator of FoodByMaria and your go-to Greek food expert for cozy, flavor-packed recipes. Inspired by her Mediterranean roots, she brings traditional Greek flavors, feel-good ingredients, and a whole lot of joy to everyday cooking.
Olive oil: These are olive-oil cookies, so there’s no butter to soften or cream with the sugar. The oil is mixed into the citrus-sugar mixture before the dry ingredients are added.
Orange and lemon: Both zests flavor the dough, along with freshly squeezed orange juice. The syrup gets its own citrus flavor from orange peel, so the citrus carries through the cookie and its coating.
Cinnamon and nutmeg: These warming spices are part of what makes the cookies feel so festive. Ground cinnamon and nutmeg go into the dough; cinnamon sticks flavor the syrup and are removed before dipping.
Honey and sugar: The syrup contains both honey and sugar, along with water, cinnamon sticks, and orange peel. Honey is part of this combination, not a replacement for the sugar in the recipe.
Walnuts: Finely ground walnuts finish the cookies after dipping. Have them ready before you start coating the cookies so you can sprinkle them on straight away.
Tips for Making Melomakarona
All-purpose flour: This melomakarona recipe uses all-purpose flour without semolina. Use the flour quantity in the recipe card; you don’t need to add semolina to make this version.
Olive oil: These are olive-oil cookies, so there’s no butter to soften or cream with the sugar. The oil is mixed into the citrus-sugar mixture before the dry ingredients are added.
Orange and lemon: Both zests flavor the dough, along with freshly squeezed orange juice. The syrup gets its own citrus flavor from orange peel, so the citrus carries through the cookie and its coating.
Cinnamon and nutmeg: These warming spices are part of what makes the cookies feel so festive. Ground cinnamon and nutmeg go into the dough; cinnamon sticks flavor the syrup and are removed before dipping.
Honey and sugar: The syrup contains both honey and sugar, along with water, cinnamon sticks, and orange peel. Honey is part of this combination, not a replacement for the sugar in the recipe.
Walnuts: Finely ground walnuts finish the cookies after dipping. Have them ready before you start coating the cookies so you can sprinkle them on straight away.
Substituions
Walnuts: You can use almonds, pecans or pistachios for the topping instead. This changes the nut finish, not the cookie dough or the honey syrup.
Citrus: If you prefer lemon juice, you can use it in place of the orange juice. You can also lean more toward orange or lemon when choosing the zest. Orange and lemon have different flavors, so choose the balance you enjoy rather than expecting an identical result.
Gluten-free flour: If you’re adapting these cookies with gluten-free flour, check that flour’s substitution directions first. Not every gluten-free flour replaces all-purpose flour at a 1:1 ratio. The main recipe below uses all-purpose flour, so don’t assume every alternative will give you the same texture.
What to serve with Melomakarona
Serve melomakarona on a platter with coffee or tea, or include them in your Christmas dessert spread. For a table of Greek sweets, add baklava or loukoumades. The honey-syrup cookies sit right at home alongside either.
If you’re planning a larger menu, bougatsa is another Greek dessert to share. You can also serve fresh fruit salad or frozen Greek yogurt alongside the cookies if you’d like fruit or a cold dessert on the table.
Common Questions
You may also see honey-syrup cookies called finikia; the names and recipes overlap. This melomakarona recipe is baked, dipped in honey syrup and finished with walnuts.
This is a traditional Greek recipe and I’d advise you follow the recipe below for the best results but you can totally make some minor adjustments with spices depending on your preferences. For example, if you prefer a bit less cinnamon, and a bit more nutmeg.
Save this recipe for later
Watch the Video
Ingredients
For the cookies
- 3 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp salt
- 6 tbsp sugar
- zest from half an orange
- zest from half a lemon
- 1 cup olive oil
- 8 tbsp fresh squeezed orange juice
- ½ tsp baking soda
For the syrup
- ½ cup liquid honey
- ¾ cup water
- ½ cup sugar
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 2 inch orange rind
Topping
- ½ cup finely ground walnuts
Instructions
Start Cooking- In a medium bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, nutmeg, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine the orange zest, lemon zest and sugar and massage the zest into the sugar. Whisk the olive oil into the sugar mixture until combined.
- In a small bowl stir together the orange juice with the baking soda, it should froth up a bit.
- Stir that into the olive oil-sugar mixture until combined.
- Whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, a little at a time and as the mixture gets thicker, switch to a spatula and eventually use your hands if needed to gently fold the rest of the dry ingredients into the dough you want to mix this until just combined, do not overmix as the dough can start to separate / release the oil.
- Let the dough rest for 15 minutes at room temperature.
- While the dough is resting, preheat the oven to 350F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Once the dough has rested, start to shape the cookies. Scoop out 2 heaping tablespoons per cookie, roll it into a ball in your hands and then form into an egg-like oval, flattening the top slightly. Place on the cookie sheet and repeat with the remaining dough. Once all the cookies are on the baking sheets, use a fork to gently poke a couple of holes in the tops of each cookie. Then bake the cookies for 20-25 minutes or until the cookies are firm and lightly golden brown. Let the cookies cool completely on the baking sheets.
- While the cookies are cooling, make the syrup: Add the sugar, water, honey, cinnamon sticks and orange peel to a medium pot. Bring to a boil and then turn to medium-low to keep at a simmer for 7-10 minutes, until the sugar is fully dissolved and the syrup has thickened slightly, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat and remove the cinnamon sticks and orange peel and set aside.
- Once the cookies have cooled and the syrup is still warm, dunk each cookie into the syrup using a spoon to flip them around. Then, immediately sprinkle the crushed walnuts over the cookies.
Notes
- If you love this Greek dessert recipe, try our Baklava Recipe or our Loukoumades (Greek Donuts)
Related Recipes
19 people are discussing this recipe. Join in
Your recipe is the best out of 4 I’ve tried. The ingredients and quantities of each are perfect. They are a great combination for a perfectly baked cookie. Even your syrup was a delicious compliment to the cookies and made them turn out irresistibly delicious!!
thank you so much, polly
These are so good. I added pistachios and walnuts and drizzled the extra syrup on top. My 9 year old says these are her favorite cookies and begs me to make more. Love that this is made with olive oil and very little sugar, thanks for the delicious recipe!
Thank you so much!! This is epic!!
Outstanding! I made them for a party and they were a hit. I’m glad I made a double batch because they are fantastic with a cup of tea. And they were so pretty.
This truly is music to my ears!!!
This is a great recipe, love these but this is the best recipe I’ve tried. I’ll use it in the future! After dunking and adding crushed pistachios, I drizzled extra syrup on top.
oh my goodness! what a lovely compliment thank you so much hun
fantastic recipe. I make these every Christmas and have used lots of different recipes, and this one is one I’ll go back to again.
you are so sweet, thank you so much Tabitha!!
Would you be able to tell me the weight of flour in Grams. I find I wet better results when I weigh the flour. Thank you so much! Can’t wait to try these.
Good morning, Tina! I did not weight the flour in grams but I offer conversions of all recipe son my FoodByMaria app which is available for both Apple and Android.
They came out so well! I had 21 cookies total, then I have some leftover syrup!
Sooo good! Thank you!
you are so welcome!!! thank you hunnie!
Melamakarona are my favorite. And now I understand why these Christmas cookies conincide with citrus season! A process but so worth it. They just melted in my mouth, as they should. Thanks Maria for the step by step 🫶🏽
You are so welcome my love! Thank you!!!
baked these with my fiance today and they came out absolutely delicious! I made 21 out of my batch of dough. I’m excited to make some more this month with my spin on it!! thank you 🙂
I love to hear this!!! Thank you so much!!!!
Hi, baked these today but haven’t tasted them yet! I have a question. I followed the recipe and it made only 15 cookies and mine look smaller than yours in your videos. Also, is it better to put them directly in the syrup like you or drizzle over like the recipe says? Thanks